In the use and manufacture of chlorocarbons and chlorohydrocarbons, undesirable chlorine-containing organic compounds are usually produced. For examples, chlorinated liquid wastes are produced in the manufacture of vinyl chloride monomer (VCM). Chlorinated solid wastes are produced in the use and manufacture of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Those organic wastes are considered as undesirable byproducts which do not have sufficient economic value for recovery. They also require proper disposal to minimize their impact on the environment.
Because of restrictive regulations on the disposal of those organic wastes by burial or impounding, various processes have been developed to burn those organic wastes and to recover their chlorine value as hydrogen chloride or hydrochloric acid. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,453,073; 3,980,758; 4,059,675; and 4,151,262 disclosed processes for recovering hydrogen chloride by incinerating chlorinated organic wastes with air or with a mixture of air and steam. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,933,989 and 3,969,490 disclosed processes for treating chlorinated solid wastes by pyrolysis to recover hydrogen chloride as a product and to obtain residual high molecular hydrocarbons which can be casted for disposal or be incinerated in a second stage operation.
Carbon disulfide is commercially made by reacting elemental sulfur with charcoal or methane. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,568,121; 2,668,752; 2,709,639; 2,712,982; and 2,712,984 disclosed processes for producing carbon disulfide from natural gas using various catalysts. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,882,130 and 3,087,788 disclosed non-catalytic processes for producing carbon disulfide. U.S. Pat. No. 3,079,233 disclosed a simplified method for recovering carbon disulfide from the product gas. U.S. Pat. No. 3,250,595 disclosed a process which operated at low pressure for carbon disulfide production and at high pressure for product separation and purification. In the production of carbon disulfide using natural gas as feedstock, a large facility is required for the conversion of byproduct hydrogen sulfide into elemental sulfur for recycle. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,369,377; 2,474,067; 3,876,753; and 3,927,185 disclosed processes using olefins and higher hydrocarbons as feedstocks.
As described in details in this invention, I have found that hydrogen chloride can be recovered and carbon disulfide can be manufactured from chlorine-containing organic compounds. By reacting elemental sulfur with said organic compounds, hydrogen chloride and carbon disulfide can be produced and recovered as valuable products. This invention provides new and improved processes for the disposal of undesirable chlorine-containing organic wastes, and for the utilization of said organic wastes as feedstocks to produce hydrogen chloride and carbon disulfide.